As Good As it Gets
by lz1nonly
Summary: It was like any other day on Mobius and the Chaotix team was runnin' low on cases. Suddenly, they feel a little shake and Mighty and Espio go to check it out. What they find is unexpected...and unwell. How will it end? Mighty x OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_"Mia," the little girl walked through their home searching for her sister. "Mia are you here?" She started to worry. She ran to the top of the stairs and stared down at the back of her sibling. "Mia?" Her sister walked away and the little hedgehog fell to her knees and started to sob. "You can't leave." She fell to the floor, hard, and then, black._

◊◊◊

"Ah, ouch," Maria groaned after hitting the steel floor of the spacecraft. She staggered up and walked over to the control panel looking out the window.

"Shit!" she cried as she ran back to a small room off the main area on the shuttle. The ground, she saw, was coming towards her quickly and she'd guessed the little room was some sort of "safe box".

Not 30 seconds later, the ship had crashed and she had been buried under a large amount of rubble. She struggled to come out but soon everything went black.

◊◊◊

A short ways away, the Chaotix felt the odd disturbance.

"What the--...what was that?" Vector said loudly removing his headphones from his ears.

"I don't know. I'll go check it out." Espio said standing up from his seat on the floor and walking towards the door.

"I'll come with." Espio gave him an annoyed look but nonetheless, Mighty followed him out the door and they were both soon out of sight.

A few minutes later, they had reached the site of the crash.

"Whoa," Mighty said as Espio slid down the side of the small crater the shuttle had created in the ground. Mighty followed as soon as he realized Espio wasn't standing by him anymore.

Espio hastened off in one direction as Mighty scurried through the pieces of metal. He walked about slowly, searching for anything interesting.

"I don't think anyone could've survived this," he said picking up a small piece of metal and throwing it back down.

Espio kept looking until he saw something dreadful. He stopped and walked closer to the smaller pile of damaged materials.

"Mighty, get over here!"

"What happe--." Mighty stopped speechlessly.

"Help me get this stuff off," Espio told Mighty knowing that he saw someone buried under all the metals and cables. They made quick work of removing the items.

"You think he's okay?" Mighty asked as he lifted a final sheet of steel from the body.

"You mean she?" Espio said turning the girl over so he could listen for a heartbeat. Lowering his head to her chest, he heard the slightest of thumps.

"A girl?" Mighty said looking at the figure lying on the ground.

"We need to take her back home." Espio said lifting the girl gently to his chest and cradling her limp form in his arms.

"She's alive?"

"Barely. Come on."

"Right." Mighty said following Espio quickly back to the house.

◊◊◊

"Where are those two? It can't take this long just to investigate a little rumble." Vector said sounding semi-annoyed.

"Hey, here they come!" Charmy said as he pointed out the window at the two walking hastily towards the door. "And they brought someone with them."

Vector stood up and walked over to the door. "What do ya mean they brought someone with them?" he said opening it as they walked in.

"See? A pretty, girl someone." Charmy said smiling, not sure of what was going on yet.

Espio rushed in with Mighty close behind and he walked directly upstairs to a bedroom laying the girl down on the bed. Vector and Charmy soon showed up in the doorway. They walked in and stood around the bed as they started asking questions. Charmy looked extremely worried.

"What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?" Charmy asked.

"What did you guys do?" Vector asked looking at Mighty. Espio was busy. He was pressing around her ribs and on her arms. He saw a large gash on her right upper arm.

"Nothing. That little shake we felt was a space craft hitting ground."

"A shuttle crash? How bad?" Vector asked.

"Very bad. She was under a lot of wreckage when Espio found her."

"She's going to be alright...isn't she Espio?" Charmy asked and started to tear up. Espio stood up and put a hand to his mouth with his finger curled at his lips. He then walked off and went into a different room. Charmy flew up and sat by the girl's head. He put a finger to the teardrop shaped gem in her forehead, "What's that, Mighty?" he asked thinking Mighty would maybe know being he was quite intelligent.

"I'm not sure. Maybe some cultural tradition?" he said shrugging as Espio returned holding a bandage.

"Man, she's in pretty bad shape." Espio rushed to the girl. "What's that for?" Vector asked before really thinking about it.

"What do you think?" He paused as he went to the bed and sat at her side. Charmy flew up away from the girl and hovered above the end. Espio lifted the girl up so she was almost sitting. Her upper body was still slanted, though. "She broke a few of her ribs. If they aren't wrapped they won't heal properly and they may puncture her lungs."

"And look who's the doctor now." Vector said irritated.

"No, he's right." Mighty countered Vector's comment.

They all sat quietly for another few minutes as Espio wrapped the girl's torso in bandages. Mighty and Vector exchanged a few glances. Charmy watched worriedly as Espio proceeded.

When he finished he placed her gently back on the bed and covered her up. The others just looked at each other nervously.

Espio suddenly stood up and walked out of the room. Mighty looked at the girl then to Vector, and followed Espio, leaving a good distance between him and the obviously troubled chameleon. Vector watched as Charmy went to his previous seat at her head. Vector left him alone and went downstairs to listen to some more of his music. Charmy settled down at her side and soon dozed off.

◊◊◊

Outside, Espio sat cross-legged by a large tree. Mighty had followed him and was wondering what was wrong. As he walked up to him cautiously, he sat down beside him and started to converse.

"What's up?" Mighty spoke not breaking Espio's concentration in the slightest.

"Nothing," he paused and opened an eye at him, "why do you ask?"

"Ah, no reason really. It's just, you up and outted there pretty quick. Anything wrong?"

"No." was Espio's simple reply.

"You sure?"

"Did I not just answer?" Espio sounded slightly angry. Mighty just backed off knowing that Espio was a bit short-tempered.

"Alright...alright." Mighty said as he leaned back against the tree with his hands behind his head. There was a long period of silence. They did not say anything nor did they look at each other.

The subtle and cool breeze was calming to Espio. Along with the comforting surroundings, he was pretty much at peace. He assumed Mighty hadn't noticed, but he was wrong.

"Nice night, huh?" he said interjecting Espio's thoughts. Espio did not say anything in response, just sat there. "Makes ya want to stay forever, doesn't it?" he added and looked at the chameleon, smiling, who, after a second or two returned the gesture. He avoided eye contact with the armadillo, though.

"Yeah, yeah it does." he said raising his head to look at the stars in the clear, blue sky. Then he lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Mighty wanted badly to help Espio somehow, but didn't want to intrude where he wasn't wanted.

"It was a good thing. What you did back there. Takes a lot of sense and courage."

"Hmm."

The time went on, long and comforting. Espio and Mighty continued to talk the night hours away, not really wondering how long it had been, or what time it was. It didn't seem to matter.

◊◊◊

_"Amy, you have to be quiet, okay?"_

_"Otay." The little hedgehog watched curiously as her sister threw various things into a metal box. "What are you doing, Mia?"_

_"I'm, going away. I-I can't stay here."_

Everything went black suddenly and Maria opened her eyes slowly to a dark room. She hurt from top to bottom and had no idea why.

"What happened?" she thought feeling the pain in her body. She felt the bandages on her stomach. She groaned as she felt a shot of pain up her side. She looked around and was caught off guard by a young bee lying next to her. "Where am I?" she thought to herself. She just lay down, thinking deeply.

◊◊◊

It had been a couple of hours since Mighty had sat down with Espio and he was heading back into the house to check on the girl. Espio remained outside, as he had wanted to clear his head.

When Mighty reached the room, he saw her laying on the bed. It looked as if she were asleep. He walked up to the bed pulling a chair next to it and sat down. He looked at the girl, and considering it was dark, thought her eyes were closed. Starting to push the stray hairs from her face, his arm was suddenly clutched in her hand.

Mighty stood up from the chair quickly. He refused to show any sign of fright in him. She did not release any control on his arm, though. He stared down at her. Her eyes were shaded by the darkness and he could only see the gem, glistening in the little light there was. He thought maybe talking to her would cause her to free his arm.

"You know, I would fight you now, but considering the," he paused and looked over her body, "condition, you're in." She tightened her grip on his arm suddenly and he held back the cries of pain he knew were there.

"What do you want?" She spoke still not looking up at him or releasing his arm. She sounded angered, or pained.

Mighty looked down concerned and said with a slight smile, "I'd settle for your name."

She shot an odd gaze up at him. Her eyes were visible now. They were such a bright green. They seemed to send light to the rest of the room. They were so engulfing, it made Mighty feel, different. She then slowly and uneasily loosened her grip from his forearm. She looked away and answered Mighty's request quietly. "Maria."

"Maria, nice name." He wanted to sound comforting without sounding too soft. He didn't want to risk her doing something regrettable, or him for that matter. He had actually thought her name was quite beautiful. He slowly pulled the chair back to the bedside and sat in it. Slouching, arms crossed at his chest. He rubbed his arm a little feeling the after pain of her grasp.

She saw this and looked up at him.

"I'm, sorry, about that." Very quietly, but sincerely, she apologized. He looked at her a little more focused.

"Hey, don't worry about it." He shrugged and looked back at her, "I've had worse." He paused and thought for a moment on how he could maybe pry a little bit. "You've got a strong grip though." He let out a small laugh. "Really strong." He said stroking his arm again.

"Yeah, so I've been told." She replied simply and stared back off to the ceiling.

"Is that so. You do that often?" He was a little worried about how she would react but he had a hunch she wouldn't care too much about his comment. Despite his direct question though, she did not answer.

Maria looked back at Charmy lying next to her and asked still quietly, "Who's this little one?"

Mighty looked over to see whom she was asking about.

"Oh. That's Charmy, he lives here with us."

She looked at him a little longer and then turned her head to Mighty.

"Us? Who's 'us'?"

Mighty looked at her. 'At least she talks' he thought to himself.

"Uh, well there's me and him, then there are a couple other guys. Nothing to worry about, I assure you." She let out a second of laughter accompanied by a small smile. Mighty was glad to see this. At least she wasn't totally emotionless.

"Trust me, I've no problem with it." She sat there. Maria couldn't stand being stuck like this. Lying there immobile, kept inside, she hated it. She wanted to move, being strapped down was never one of her pass times. She looked around a bit just to observe everything. She saw the small stand next to the bed and the door on the opposite side of the room. There was quite a lot of space in the room. Then she saw the window. It looked like a great view. She could see the moon and the stream of light coming in from the white sphere. She wanted to do something other than stare at something. So she brought something to attention, attempting to start a conversation. "So, I believe you still owe me a name." She gazed up at him. He looked down at her.

"Mighty, my name's Mighty."

"Do you know what time it is by chance?" Maria felt it was late, or early depending, but nonetheless it was dark. She was not tired though, which honestly was no surprise.

Mighty thought for a moment then tilted his head to the side and said, "Not sure. I'd guess probably 'round eleven."

"Huh, aren't you normally asleep this late?" She felt weird talking to him, not necessarily uncomfortable, just weird. Considering the fact she had just gained the knowledge of his name and she had never met him before, odd feeling but she felt she could talk to him at the time. It was late and he seemed nice.

"Yes, aren't you?" His comment caught Maria by surprise.

"Actually, no." She looked at him, in the eyes as he persisted.

"So what, you have no night where you come from?"

"Oh no, we sleep. Well, they sleep." He looked at her with those 'what are you talking about' eyes. Only then did she continue. "I sleep, but not in a normal way. My friend said that maybe I had a sleeping disorder, psychological he said. I will fall asleep, eventually, but it will be four in the morning before I do. I will dream and rest, for about a half an hour, then wake up and I'll be completely awake as where normal people need multiple hours." She looked over at Charmy yet again and pointed. "I can't remember the last time I slept like that." There was a grin on her face when she turned to Mighty.

"Yeah, but kids that young sleep like rocks anyway," he said feeling more comfortable with her.

"Really, how old is he?"

"Six, young by my standards."

"That is pretty little. Close age to my" she paused and turned her head away for a moment then back to Mighty, "sister." She blinked her eyes and a sudden image flashed in her mind. Her sister, Amethyst, she saw her young sibling and before she could think about it, it was gone. "Amazing you brought him in like this."

Mighty looked at her not knowing exactly what to say. There was a short silence between the two of them. They didn't really have anything more to say to each other. Maria wanted to though. What could she say, but Mighty beat her to the chance.

"You need anything? Something to drink or some aspirin maybe?"

"You shouldn't trouble yourself over me, Mighty."

"Trouble. It's no trouble, not at all. So do you want something?"

She smiled and looked up at him.

"I honestly don't like people treating me like a," she stopped, trying to think of the word she felt. Mighty finished for her though.

"A princess?"

"Yeah. That's it." She smiled and closed her eyes. She did not sleep. She just shut her eyes to block any sight. Just to see darkness, but she continued to talk. "So, when do you think I'll be able to get up out of this bed?"

Mighty smiled, and leaned back in his chair again.

"I'd say by next week. Depends though," he said this with a smile.

"See, I think otherwise." She smiled opening her eyes again and looking at him.

"Is that so? So when do you think you'll be up and about?"

"Hmm, I'd say by tomorrow morning." She said with a smile and opened her eyes at him. She was curious as to why he seemed to care so much. "You know you don't have to stay here with me. I would recommend getting some rest."

"Aw, it's no big deal. Staying up late isn't a rare thing for me." The smile stayed on her face as she looked back at Charmy.

"They do sleep like rocks don't they." She let out a laugh and looked at Mighty. "So he's like a brother to you, huh?" It was something that caught him by surprise but got him thinking a little bit. Mighty noticed that her attitude had changed dramatically since he walked in. She was more cheery and happy, maybe being more of her true self now.

"Yeah, I guess." He thought a second longer, he noticed it really was a little like that. "It's kinda like that." She closed her eyes again and turned her head to face the ceiling. She was taking in the total black and the silence. She was quiet and calm until she saw something...or remembered.

_"Maria, you can't just leave like this. You're going to leave Amy and Misty here alone? What do you think they're going to do when you tell them, they're seven years old Maria!"_

_"I don't need crap from you, Eli."_

_"They don't have anyone else, you know that as well as anybody. You're all those girls have."_

_"They have you, don't they?" She bowed her head and turned her head halfway around, "Besides, that's all my fault."_

_"Why do you do this, Maria? Why does everything have to be your problem? None of that was your fault, you know that!"_

_"Don't you get it, Eli? I'm the one who caused it to happen. I'm the one who caused all the pain. It's because of me they're all gone!" She turned back around with her back to Eli._

_"Maria, what do you think this is going to prove? You leaving and pretending you were never here is just going to magically solve everything?"_

_"Eli, don't."_

_"What are you planning on doing? You can't expect everything that happened to suddenly disappear. Your parents are gone. Natashia and Neamiah are gone. There is no bringing them back, Maria!"_

_Maria stood still, her back still facing Eli. She balled her fists and closed her eyes hard. She spoke very softly, "Eli, stop."_

Maria's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, feeling the pain shoot up her side and across her torso. She did not have the concentration to worry about it though. Her mind and her heart were racing.

"Maria, are you--?" Mighty stood up and went over to her as he was cut off. He was about to put his hands around her to hold her up safely but she stopped him holding his arms back.

"I'm," she paused and looked around the room as is if she were trying to see something. Mighty tried to follow her gaze. She looked at Charmy again, still sleeping next to her.

"Maria?" She looked at Mighty with sad yet, angered eyes. Stepping out of the bed carefully, as to not wake up the still sleeping bee, she walked to the window and looked out. "What are you looking for?"

"I have to go." She opened the window and looked back at Mighty as he spoke.

"Um, excuse my plain speaking, but I really don't think it's a smart choice for you to run away." She suddenly saw a picture of Eli flash in front of her eyes. She blinked a couple of times still not sure if she had just been dreaming or imagining it. Without attempting to say anything else she started out the window but stopped at Mighty's powerful voice. "Maria, you can't jus--."

"Mighty, you do not have to worry yourself over me. I just have--" she stopped and stared at his worry a few more seconds then turned around and was about to move off the roof. She turned around once more to see Mighty's face. "I--," she was at a total loss of words. She had completely lost her train of thought, and she was more worried about the visions she was having. "I need to be alone." With that she turned around and jumped off the edge of the roof, plunging to the ground.

She landed safely on the surface and crouched looking back to the window she had just left. Bowing her head she stood up and ran off in the direction where she was drawn.

Mighty stood watching her leave. "Watch yourself," he whispered as he turned back to Charmy who unbelievably was still in a deep sleep. He leaned against the windowsill, thinking, wondering. Waiting for anything to occur to him. Questions crowded his mind. He closed his eyes and stayed comfortably against the wooden plank, when all out of nowhere he heard a voice, "she'll be back." He opened his eyes and shot a glance at Charmy who was still resting. Continuing to search the room, he only saw nothingness. Who had said that, or was it just his imagination? He just blew it off and continued to drift in thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

As Maria made her way around, she was determined to find what she was searching for. When she was clear of the forest and saw a large glistening area, she let out a sigh of relief. She hurried to the waters' shore. The sand beneath her feet as she stepped close was so soft. She stood on the very edge of the water, looking down then looking up over the extent of it. She took a deep breath and then dropped to her knees, and closed her eyes facing down at the water. When she opened her eyes she saw an image of Eli, again. This couldn't be possible. She stared at the rippling picture of her friend and than smashed her fists into the water, letting them rest on the wet sand underwater.

She was trying to understand where the visions of her past were coming from. She couldn't figure it out. It wasn't possible. At least, so she thought until something hit her, hard.

"Amy," she whispered to herself and looked up over the water. She knew what was happening now. She figured everything out. Her younger sister Amethyst, the only one she knew that had the capabilities to do something like this. It had to be her. There was no other option. She had to be doing it to tell Maria how much she had hurt her, and everyone else.

"Little late to be out here by yourself isn't it?" Maria heard a voice and felt eyes staring at her back. She turned around swiftly to find her stalker, but no one was there. There was only emptiness.

"Who are you?" She was searching calmly around the area with her eyes trying to see who was talking to her.

"You're not really in much of a condition to be out here alone." The voice said again, not answering Maria's question.

"I can take care of myself. I don't need any help." She said taking a step back discreetly.

"Is that so?" The voice asked sounding nefarious in a way. Maria couldn't see well, it was dark, but she knew someone was right there in front of her. Somewhere, where she would see him, but where? She did not see anyone. She stood there, curious.

In the blink of an eye, she was pinned on the ground. She was lying on her back looking up into bright yellow eyes.

"Looks to me like that's not entirely true." He said.

Maria struggled to come free pulling away and fidgeting, but it was no use. Her arms were spread straight out away from her and were being held down by his hands tightly. Her legs were free but that wasn't doing her any good. Who was this guy?

"Get off of me! Let me go!" She said forcefully, but he did not release his grasp. She looked him over. She saw his eyes. There was a spiraled tail. A horn was set in the middle of his forehead. He was a chameleon. He had to be. "That's why I couldn't see him," she thought to herself as she looked back into his eyes.

"Why should I?" He sounded calm and confident. Maria looked out towards the water and noticed that her hands were still free. She knew exactly what she could do to get him off of her. It was the only thing she could do. The chameleon followed her gaze and then looked back at her, she was staring into his eyes.

"Because you don't have a choice." He watched curiously as the gem in her forehead started to glow a bright white. She flicked her wrist towards him and out of nowhere a stream of water hit him directly in the side. He tumbled over to the side of her and she quickly resumed her footing. She reached down and from somewhere, pulled out a gun. She pointed it at his head, holding it with two hands, only inches from his temple, as he started to chuckle a bit. "What do you want?" She asked, worried about his sudden amusement.

He looked up at her with big eyes and then suddenly disappeared again. Maria was really starting to get tired of this. She was suddenly grabbed from behind and she felt an arm wrapped around her neck. She dropped her gun and tried prying his hold off with her hands. It was no use. Her hands were suddenly grasped in another. She couldn't move them and she was unable to keep trying to remove his arm from her throat. She continued to struggle.

"That's a good trick. You'll have to teach it to me sometime." She stopped moving for a second or two then spoke.

"What do you want with me?"

"Nothing."

"Then why don't you let me go?"

"I would if I didn't think you would kill me."

"I wouldn't."

"Why should I trust you? Give me a reason why I don't have to keep hold of you." There was a long pause. Neither one spoke. She looked down at her Beretta.

Maria sighed and simply said, "I can't." She suddenly heard a voice in her head.

_"Don't say you can't, not to me." Then it was gone and she heard nothing yet again._

There was no sound, only the loosening of his arm around her neck. She took a small step forward and turned around to face him.

"You gonna disappear again?"

"Not if you don't give me a reason to." She stared at him for a second then turned and walked away towards the water. She stood on the edge of the waves and stared up at the full moon in the sky. He watched as she did this and didn't attempt to do something that may cause her to attack him. He knew that he had her out-matched, but he still avoided it.

"So, what is it you were following me for?"

"Saw you leave, just wanted to make sure you didn't go off and attempt something you'd regret."

She was silent then thought for a moment.

"Leave where?"

"Jumped out the window didn't you?"

"How would you know that?" She looked back at him. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at her.

"I just know how things like that are done." He paused and cautiously walked up next to her. She backed away worried that he would do something. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"How can I trust you? What have you done for me?"

He smiled a bit and dropped his head.

"I saved you." Her eyes widened at hearing this. She put a hand on her right side and refused to look at him. "Does it hurt?" She remained quiet. "You should lie do--"

"Why?" She paused and looked at him, "Why do you care so much?"

He looked at her eyes. They were such a bright, luscious green.

"No one deserves pain. Sorrow. Death."

"You're wrong." He looked at her who was staring down at the ground. There was a short silence, as the chameleon seemed to study her, trying to find something.

"How so?"

"You wouldn't understand." She spoke in such a hushed tone. It was difficult to hear. "You wouldn't be able to help me."

"Maybe not, but I'd listen."

"Yeah, well you listening won't solve my problem." She saw a sudden image flash before her eyes. It was not Eli, nor was it Amy like it had been before. It was, an old friend. She remembered her now. She closed her eyes as she thought.

_"Tash, I'm not going to pull you into this with me."_

_"Oh come on Maria, like I'd let you go alone and have all the fun. You know me better than that."_

_"This isn't you're problem. You don't need to try and help me."_

_"So what, now I can't help? Can't go? I don't think so."_

_"Tash, I say no way are you're coming with me."_

_"And I say no way I'm not."_

_"Natashia,"_

_"Friends forever, that means no one is left behind, we're there for each other no matter what. I'm going with you."_

Maria opened her eyes. "That memory, all those memories, they've been playing like a movie." Maria whispered to herself and he overheard.

"Odd time to be talking about movies isn't it?"

Maria jerked her head around quickly as she had forgotten he was still there. She didn't say anything, but he noticed a tear form in the corner of her eye before she blinked it away.

"Listen, I didn't mean to--"

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand."

"How would you know? You don't know me."

"Yeah and you don't know me, but I know you should mind your own business."

"Why? You got something to hide?" Maria said nothing, just looked away. He was not one to butt into peoples' business, but this was different. She made him gain an urge to persist, to pry a little more where he wasn't wanted, to wonder a little more about who she really was. "So now you have nothing to say? I find that hard to believe."

"You know I'm really not up to arguing with you right now."

"But you were up to sneaking out in the middle of the night and coming out here alone."

"Yeah well, some things are more important than others."

"So you just had to leave that bed, threatening your own life, to come out here becoming susceptible to getting killed?" He paused and took a step up to her side, standing right next to her. He spoke in a softened tone, "yeah, that sounds real sensible to me." There was a long pause and Maria was just looking at the water that lay in front of her. He was more focused on how he was going to get her to talk to him, not that she hadn't been, but he seemed as though he were an enemy more than a friend. "So who are you?"

Maria did not look at him, just kept her gaze straight ahead over the gentle surface of the waters. She had figured sooner or later he would ask about her, just as Mighty had. Then she realized that they had to of known each other, this chameleon must be one of the others he was talking about. The thoughts of him knowing such a gentle person as Mighty made her feel a little more comfortable.

"Are you asking 'who I am' as in my name? Or as in my past, my life?"

"You're name would be just fine." She looked back at him gently, and saw the warm, small, but warm smile on his face.

"You can call me Maria." She looked into his eyes, seeing the presence, "You?"

"Espio." She smiled slightly then turned around to look away form him again. There was another silence between them. Maria kept her stare in the same direction and Espio looked her over a little bit. He thought she'd have been in a lot of pain considering how badly she had been injured. The bandages around her waist were still tightly wrapped around her. The bandage he had put a couple times around her forehead was still there. She was still cut up and bruised and scraped horribly. He felt pain in his heart more than anything else because of the fact he couldn't do anything more for her. "You should probably go back, no telling how much this could be affecting your injuries."

"I'm not going back. Nothing there will help me."

"You can't just stay out here."

"Why not?" She looked at him again. "And who said I was planning on it?"

"Well, I just assumed that's what you meant."

"I don't stay anywhere. I never have."

_"Maria, I know what you're feeling, I do. Don't you remember? You should. You were in the exact same place as you're planning on putting those girls into."_

_"Don't you dare bring that up, Eli!"_

_"Maria, you know it's true, you know it happened. You knew exactly what you were feeling when I told you I was leaving."_

_"Eli! Stop!"_

_"Maria, don't you think I tried all of this before? Revenge, showing my power, saving what I thought I had left. What he did was a crime, he knows that and he's enjoying it. You doing this will be just as bad. And he'll be the one holding you with a blade to your throat laughing in the end."_

_Suddenly, Maria swung around and punched Eli in the face causing his lip to bleed and him to fall backwards because of the force. She threw her arm at him so hard that she, too, fell to the ground. She started to cry._

Maria opened her eyes and she was staring at the ground, close-up. Espio was knelt down beside her. She had tears in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"I'm taking you back, you aren't in any kind of condition to be out here."

Maria saw an image of Eli flash before her eyes again. She couldn't comprehend all this. Why was Amy doing this, it had to be her, there was no other option for it...was there? She suddenly felt herself being picked up off the ground. Espio was cradling her in his arms as they started to go back to the house. She did not fight it. She was tired and scared to be honest. She just leaned in against him and closed her eyes, feeling the swaying motion of him walking. Not long after she had drifted into a light sleep.

When they reached the house, Espio opened the door as quietly as possible. Despite his efforts though, her eyes opened to his.

"You're a light sleeper." He said in a soft voice.

"You have no idea," she responded in the same soft tone. She gave a slight smile and she looked around the room a little while Espio closed the door behind him. She saw a large crocodile lying on the couch. "Who's that?"

Espio looked to where she had pointed and replied.

"Vector, don't worry about him."

"Like I would." She rolled her eyes and watched where Espio was carrying her: up the stairs, down a hallway, and to a door. "This is the second time you've had to carry me now."

He smile down at her, "Shh, it's alright."

"No it's not." Espio looked at her and shrugged. He gently helped her out of his arms to stand next to him. He then opened the door just as quietly as he had the front door. They walked in together and he shut the door just as silently behind him. Maria recognized the room, all too well. Then she looked over to the bed. Charmy still lay there. Then she remembered Mighty and looked around the room, seeing him leaning against the windowsill, arms crossed, with his eyes open looking at them gently.

"He's still asleep?" She spoke softly.

"I told you, they sleep like rocks." He spoke soft as well. They did not want to wake up the little bee.

Espio was caught off guard slightly hearing Mighty's voice but hid it well. They exchanged glances as Maria watched them. Mighty then looked back at Maria walking up to them.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine." She looked at them and then to Charmy again.

"You should probably get more rest, that's all you need right now."

"Right, like that's even close to possible." She said turning around and walking over to the bed. She sat cross-legged next to Charmy and watched him rest. She looked at Espio and Mighty as they walked out the bedroom door and shut it.

◊◊◊

"Where was she?"

"Down by the waterfront. She was alone." They spoke softly so Maria could not hear them well. Mighty leaned up against the wall next to the doorway and crossed his arms at his chest.

"You snuck up on her didn't you?"

"I soon found out I wouldn't have had much of a choice."

Mighty raised his eyebrow confusedly, "Why's that?"

"Let's put it this way, she can definitely defend herself."

"Yeah, I found that out too." Mighty rubbed his arm a little again. It didn't hurt but he could still remember what it felt like. "You know who she is yet?"

"All I know is her name's Maria, other than that, nothing."

"Right." Mighty rubbed the back of his head.

"What about you, anything?"

"Not much more, not anything that's very important. All I got was that she's not one to sleep."

"Well that's helpful." Espio was sounding a bit agitated.

"Chill." Mighty stood from the wall and stopped in front of Espio. "We'll talk to Vector about her tomorrow morning. It's late. We all need some rest." He walked by and went through a different door, his bedroom.

Espio stood there for a second longer before turning the opposite direction and walking to his room. Their heads were both crowded and foggy. Sleep was probably the best thing for them.

◊◊◊

"Amy." Maria sat there next to the little bee whispering to herself, but more to others through herself. She was lost in thought, worry, sadness. "Eli," she paused and looked out the window at the moon, "I'm...sorry."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

Maria opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around and before she could really define where she was, the blurry memories of what had happened rolled in. She saw that there was just a beautiful stream of light coming in through the window. She couldn't tell what time it was, and she was surprised that she had slept at all. She noticed that Charmy was still lying next to her.

"It's still early," she thought to herself getting out of the bed carefully and quietly. Charmy was asleep yet and she wanted to keep it that way as long as she could. She walked silently to the door and exited the room.

Standing in the hallway, facing the doorway, she closed the door with as little noise as possible. She closed the door successfully then she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Sneaking around again?" She spun around quickly as an image of her friend Natashia flashed before her eyes. The sudden image was soon replaced by a serious looking Espio.

"Damn." She looked down at the floor.

"You alright?"

"Fine." She looked up at him and spoke softly. "What time is it?"

"Just about six."

She just dropped her head again. "You always up this early?"

"Pretty much, what about you?"

"All my waking hours run together." She looked up at him and he looked back. She dropped her hand from her forehead and stood up straight. She was quite a bit shorter than Espio was. She felt small next to him, just like everyone else she was next to. There was silence as Espio just stared at Maria, not breaking his gaze. She just stared back at him. She didn't want to look like she felt threatened. Suddenly they heard a noise and they both turned to see Mighty walking out of his room. He let out a yawn, stretching his arms above his head, and walked over to Maria and Espio. Neither said anything as he approached.

"Hey," he said to the two of them in a casual tone of voice. He paused not receiving a reply from either of them. He then proceeded to ask Maria, "How're you feeling?"

Maria just stood there confused for a bit before she remembered what had really happened yesterday.

"Better," she looked at Mighty then at Espio who exchanged glances with her. Mighty watched, as he seemed to be the only one glad it was a new day.

"That's good." He smiled a little, only so Maria could notice.

"Are you sore at all?" Espio asked wondering himself how she really was feeling.

"No. I'm fine." Espio nodded his head a little disbelievingly. He then looked at Mighty. Maria wanted some time alone, but she had a strong feeling neither of them would let her go anywhere by herself. She decided to try for a long shot, "Do you guys think I could take a shower?"

Mighty and Espio exchanged 'I'm not sure' glances.

"Not going to jump out the window are you?" Espio spoke with an agitated tone and Mighty glared at him.

"No." Maria replied simply after a short pause. She looked at Mighty, not truly trusting Espio with the decision. She did not know him as well, and she felt he was a little harsher than Mighty was.

Mighty just shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes and replied, "Whatever, go ahead."

She looked at him for a second longer. She blinked at him as he pointed down the hall to where the bathroom was. She turned around and walked away from them. She was soon out of sight.

Mighty looked down at the floor and spoke to Espio, "You shouldn't have said that." He started to walk away, down the stairs, without wanting a reply from Espio. He followed and he replied.

"Really, I thought it was quite relevant."

"Even so, it was wrong."

"How so." They reached the bottom floor and Mighty just walked into the kitchen without looking back at the chameleon. He sat in a chair at the table and rubbed his eyes. Espio sat kitty-corner from him and watched as he attempted to wake himself up. "You should still be sleeping. You're never up this early."

"Yeah well, I'm never up that late either. I'll be fine." He stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Espio. "What were you guys talking about up there? She didn't seem to happy."

"I don't know if you could call it talking, I just told her what time it was and she said that all her waking hours run together. Helluva lot of sense that makes, but that's about it."

"It makes sense."

"How's that?"

"She's always awake. She doesn't sleep." Mighty looked Espio in the eyes. He sat there looking a bit confused.

"She got some kind of insomnia?"

"She doesn't know. Makes for the best explanation, but she has no idea."

"How do you know all this? You a mind reader now?"

"She talks to me. To be frank, it wouldn't surprise me if she was afraid of you." Mighty leaned back in his chair crossing his arms. He was trying to focus on anything other than the throbbing headache he had gained, but he thought mostly about Maria.

He heard a sudden voice, thinking it was someone speaking from the room, "She's not afraid." He looked around but there was no one there except Espio, and he had not said anything.

"What's wrong with you now?" Espio asked seeing the sudden change of perception in his facial expression.

Mighty just glanced at him and then looked down.

"Mighty."

"Ever since she's been here, I've been feeling," he paused and thought to himself for a bit "weird. I guess that's the best word for it."

"Well I wonder why." Espio said sarcastically.

Mighty knew he was making fun of him, saying that he liked her. He didn't like her, not that he could tell anyway. Maybe he did and he just didn't know it. He felt something though between them, he understood her and he enjoyed being with her, like he was supposed to be, it was meant to be. He couldn't possibly have any feelings for her...could he?

"Fine, forget it."

"No, finish what you were saying."

"Drop it alright. I really don't want to talk about this now."

Espio stared at him for a little longer than looked out the window.

"Beautiful day."

"Yeah."

"Going to be a good day today."

"How can you possibly be so sure about that?" Mighty asked looking at him.

"Just a feeling."

"Right." Mighty just sat forward a little and sat with his face in his hands. He closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep as Espio just sat in deep thought. He repeated Espio's words quietly to himself, "Just a feeling."

◊◊◊

Maria found the shower no problem, not really needing to know how to turn on the water she made it as cold as she possibly could. The cold always made her relax and forget about everything going wrong or right either way. It was like it washed away all her problems, and that's all she needed.

◊◊◊

Maria stepped out of the shower and found a towel that was hanging nearby. Grabbing it, she wrapped it around herself under her arms then tucked one end into the top to keep it held up. She made her way over to the oval mirror on the opposite side of the small room. Looking sadly at her reflection, she saw cuts and scrapes on her face. They had been cleaned out by the chilly water, but still showed horribly. She ran a gentle finger alone one that curved with the outside of her right eye. It lay in a crescent moon shape.

Dropping her head and closing her eyes to block away any tears she spoke to herself, "I need you mom." She stood still in front of the mirror for a couple minutes before walking back to where her clothes were lying on the floor and slowly put them back on.

She was still really hurting, but she didn't let Espio know that. There was nothing he or anyone else could do to help. She had taken the bandages that were on her injuries off and had not really thought about it a second time. She hated being wrapped up like that, or having to be cared for by someone else, or even going anywhere near a hospital. She had always hated it, even though she had never been to a hospital, never really needing to, there was something about having to watch her friend die there all those years ago. She just wouldn't take it.

Once she had dried off and finished putting her clothes on she quietly walked down the hallway towards the stairs and where she had been staying currently. She was really debating on whether or not to stay upstairs or go down. She was not sure on either of them and considered running off again.

Suddenly, the door to her room was opened and she watched as Charmy slowly and lazily flew out of it. He stopped and stared at Maria for a bit, a little sleepy-eyed. A few seconds passed before his eyes shot wide open and he rushed downstairs shouting, "She's awake, she's alive! She's up! She's awake!"

"Whoa," Vector cried out falling off the couch due to the startling sound of Charmy's high-pitched voice. "Goddamn." He rubbed the back of his head and neck and stood up half-mindedly.

Mighty and Espio looked at each other, hearing the excitement, and then watched intently as Charmy flew in, almost colliding with the wall.

"You guys, you guys! Guess what! She's aw--"

"We know," Espio and Mighty spoke in unison cutting Charmy off.

He hovered, confused for a moment then responded with a simple, "Oh," while Vector approached.

"Hey, kid," he paused and stopped rubbing his head to point at Charmy. "Next time ya wanna fly around the house screamin," he paused again and raised his tone slightly, "do it quietly!" He walked towards the counter behind Espio and leaned against it. "So what were you yellin' about?"

"She's awake! She's alive!"

Vector stared confused for a moment.

"Who are you talkin' about?"

Maria then walked in and leaned against the doorpost, crossing her arms at her chest.

"That would be me..."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four 

Maria sat at the table watching, as Vector seemed to stare her down, study her, almost as to look straight into her. Mighty watched and Charmy grinned at her, Espio just ignored the whole period of silence.

"Can you stop staring at me?"

He didn't, just lowered his eyelids more until they became small slits.

"Vector," Mighty spoke on her behalf as to stop Vector from glaring at her, "This is Maria. You know, the girl from yesterday."

"I know. I'm not stupid, Mighty."

"Wow, had me fooled," Maria spoke quietly to herself then looked back up at Vector and sighed. "Listen, you got something to say, say it."

There was a short pause before he spoke. "You're not dead." He pointed a finger at her.

"Ever so perceptive." She rolled her eyes and looked away again.

"Whoa, I never would've guessed. Good job, Vector." Espio spoke arrogantly. He knew Vector was just taking in the whole situation, but he was still sick of sitting there in a fog of stupidity.

"Hey, purple boy, I--"

"Hey chill, alright. Leave it 'till later." Mighty cut Vector off before he and Espio could drag themselves into another argument. That seemed to come automatically to the two of them.

Maria sat there staring at them. They were all boys, Charmy being the youngest, as she had already been told. Mighty seemed to be the one that was most responsible, she could be wrong, but that's what she saw. He was also very nice, to her anyway. Vector appeared to be the oldest, and the most hotheaded. And Espio, well, he was just a short-tempered jerk to Maria, he hadn't shown anything else telling her different.

They continued to argue for a few minutes while Charmy flew over and sat on the table in front of Maria. She looked at him as he stared at her smiling.

"What're you so smiley about?" She spoke sounding as nice as she felt.

"You're really pretty." His grin grew wider after he said this.

"How sweet, thank you." She spoke with a delighted tone. She was always around little kids before and she knew how to treat them. She looked over to the three guys quarreling on the other end of the table. Then she looked back at Charmy and pointed a finger at them. "Do they do this a lot?"

He took a quick look at them and then shrugged his shoulders. "Oh yeah. All the time, but I'm pretty used to it now."

She looked back at them and watched as they fought over something so pointless. Mighty was doing the least bit of arguing but plenty of the talking. Espio was the one yelling and Vector was standing there pretending to comprehend what the other two were saying. Then, Maria got annoyed and thought up an interesting idea. She looked back at Charmy.

"Hey Charmy, do you think you could get me a glass of water?"

He sat confused for a moment before responding. "How'd you know my name?"

"Mighty told me last night. So what do you think?"

"Yeah, sure." He flew up and over to the sink after grabbing a clean glass and filled it up quickly. He then, with a little trouble, flew it back over to Maria and set it down on the table. It sat between him and Maria.

"Thanks. Now, you might want to scootch over a bit." She pointed a little off to the side and he did has he was directed. He watched interestedly as the gem in her forehead turned white and the glass started to empty, somehow, into the palm of her hand. She was holding her hand above the glass, the top of her hand facing upward, and the water seemed to fall...up...to her hand and form a ball there. It seemed as though it were just floating there. Charmy stared, totally entranced by the phenomenon. She spread her fingers out straight towards Mighty, Espio, and Vector and the water shot out from her hand to their faces. Hitting them directly in the head, they all turned in amazement, besides Espio who was more angered than amazed, and stared. She just stared back and dropped her hand as the gem in her head dimmed to a blue hue again.

"Dude! How'd you do that?" Charmy said excitedly.

"What the hell was that?" Vector said completely confused.

"That would probably be a not-so-secret power now, I'm guessing." Espio said as he wiped the water from his face and sat back down in his seat.

"Ya know if y'all would grow up for a minute, maybe I could explain."

Mighty sat down and wiped his face off. Vector shook his head, stood for a moment longer and then slowly returned to his chair, Charmy still sitting on the table by Maria.

They all stared at her yet again as she sat there quietly. Espio decided to start the conversation.

"So, am I right when I assume that's a power, more so than a talent?"

"Ha, power may not be the word for it...curse maybe. But you could call it a power I guess."

"So what, you shoot water? That's pretty pointless." Vector was not too interested in this because it meant he had to pay attention to, in his opinion, some girl tell him about something that she could do and he couldn't.

"For your information, I can manipulate the water in any form," she paused and held out her hand, palm up, "but I can't create it." She closed her hand into a fist and looked back at them.

"Is that why you've got that sparkly thing in your forehead?" Charmy pointed at the gem placed between her eyes.

"Yeah, that would be why that's there."

"So, that's the reason it changed when you threw some of that at me last night, right?"

"Yeah, but I--," she was cut off by Vector shaking his hands in front of his face.

"Whoa, hold up, wait a minute here. Last night? What happened last night?" He watched them as Mighty, Espio, and Maria all exchanged questionable glances.

Maria decided to finally say something that was at least half true. "Nothing. We were just uh...gettin' to know each other."

"So what...you weren't injured?" Vector was kind of confused. He hadn't caught up to all this yet.

Maria was about to answer before Espio cut in explaining.

"No. She was injured, badly," he paused and glared in Maria's direction. She just rolled his eyes as he continued. "And she still is. She just decided to leave in the middle of the night last night so she could be alone."

"And no one noticed you left?"

"Well, if Mighty hadn't of been there, yeah, I would've been unnoticed. Espio just seemed to follow me and then treat me like a convict."

"You went ninja on her didn't you?" Vector was starting to become a little more intrigued by the story.

"Yes, but only because she didn't give me much of a choice."

"Hey, I'm not your ordinary girl. I ain't gonna just let you come to me and go like you own me. I'm not like that believe it or not."

"Well, definitely not ordinarily weak, that's for sure." Mighty said talking about when she had grabbed his arm so tight that he felt the pain.

"Hey! I said I was sorry. I'm defensive, comes from who I grew up with."

"So what? You get picked on in school or something?"

"No. Far from it." They all looked at her, their eyes saying 'go on, a little lost.' "I'm trained in martial arts, know how to handle almost every single weapon known to every single race. I'm agile, strong, focused, cunning, and just about everything a normal guy should be."

"Martial arts?" Espio realized that's how she was able to fight him like that.

"Weapons?" Mighty was slightly shocked at the weapons part of the explanation.

"Normal guy...how's that work?"

"I'm a major tomboy alright. I've never been a prissy little girl. Never wore pink, never wore make-up, never did my nails, never wore a skirt. I'm not your average 'look at me, I'm so girly' girl. I didn't grow up like that."

"So, where did you pick up all these not so girly habits?"

She paused and looked away. She should've stopped this conversation before it began. Her past was not something she wanted to remember.

"An old friend of mine. Spent most of my life with him." She spoke much more quietly now.

They sat there nodding their heads, and then there was a short period of quiet. This was a pretty big situation for all of them. Even Maria was still trying to put it all together.

"Where are you from?" Mighty decided to ask something that she could answer and that Vector and Espio would probably wonder as well.

"Cyrzadii." She kept her glance down, not looking at any of the others.

"Cyrzadii? That planet's halfway across the galaxy."

"Yeah. It is."

"So how'd you get here?" Only after Vector had asked had he known how stupid his question was. She glanced up at him with confused eyes. "Right, stupid question."

"You know if we hadn't shown up...you could've been dead by now." Espio was sounding pretty proud of himself for some reason. Maria didn't respond. She just kept her gaze downward.

"That's your thoughts, not a fact."

"So, you don't think you'd have died from a crash like that?" Espio said feeling pretty confident in himself.

"No. I would've lived...whether or not you showed up."

"Somehow, I find that pretty hard to believe, Maria." Mighty spoke interjected the conversation between mainly Espio and her.

"Yeah well, you don't know me. And I'll say truthfully that you probably never will." She stood up and looked at them. They stared back as she started to walk away.

"Where the hell are you going?" Vector cried after her as she was about to open the door to exit to outside.

"Out," was all she said in reply as she closed the door behind her and was off on her own...again.

The three older guys exchanged glances and Charmy just sat, still confused. Vector bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"That girl's got some attitude," he paused and looked at Espio, "and I don't like it."

"So what do you want us to do about it?" Mighty spoke strongly. He knew Vector wanted her gone, but she couldn't leave. Not with the injuries she had endured and then after not even one day, saying she was all right? No, not with Mighty there, it wouldn't happen.

"Keep her under control. If she slips, cocks a fit at me, one way or another, she's out."

"Vector, we have no idea who she is or how well she really is. She may slip, in your plain speaking, within the next couple hours. What happens then?"

"She goes."

"You can't do that!" Mighty stood from the table violently and put his hands in fists, setting them knuckles down on the tabletop.

"She is in no way healed. There is no possible way. I know for a fact that if she goes off, like she constantly does, and we don't bring her back, she may end up dead."

Vector sat silently for a moment. He lost contact with the two of them and thought for that moment in silence.

"Three days," he held up three long fingers at Mighty and Espio, then looked up at them both. "I'll give it three days. After that, she's outta here."

"Vector, three days doesn't give her enough time to fully recover from those injuries. You know that."

"Then speed it up Espio, you should be able to do something like that."

"Vector! You can't say she's gon--" Mighty stopped when Vector spoke powerfully.

"Three days! Mighty, that's it. Deal with it," he paused and looked at Mighty directly, "or maybe you wanna leave with her." Mighty stared at him for what seemed like forever before violently pushing away from the table and rushing past Vector. He headed outside in search for Maria. He was done with the conversation, finished.

Espio looked at Vector and he glared back silently. There was no speaking between them, there needn't been. All they needed to say to each other was thrown at each other through their eyes.

After a couple eternity lasting minutes in silence, Espio stood and also headed outside. Charmy followed, not knowing exactly what everyone was arguing about. Most of them had forgotten that he was still there.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five 

Maria was outside, leaning against a large tree that was in the front of the house. Quite a ways away from it, but still near enough. Mighty walked towards her slowly, not knowing really how sure he was of talking to her. He cautiously walked up and stood beside her. She did not look at him, she knew what he was going to talk about, and frankly, she didn't want to say anything to anyone about it.

"You okay?"

"I'm just fine until you ask me if I'm okay."

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing."

"Somehow I highly doubt that." Mighty spoke almost immediately after Maria's reply. Somehow he knew she was going to try and keep it hidden.

"Why is it such a big deal? What did I do that was so interesting?" She spoke sounding irritated. That didn't surprise Mighty all too much.

"It's not what you did, it's more what you didn't." He paused and turned in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Anyone with half a brain can see that you didn't tell me--us-- something, something that you're trying to hide?"

She stared up at him and pushed past him as she replied, "Yeah, so what if I am?" She continued to walk away, not even turning to see Mighty still facing the tree. He sighed and dropped his head, eyes closed, placing his hands on the tree.

"Well, that's not suspicious." He opened his eyes hearing Espio's voice. He looked around, seeing nothing, and then looked up to see Espio clung to the tree trunk, reappearing from his cloaking state. He was high on the tree, and he did somewhat of a flip as he jumped off of it and landed right beside Mighty.

Mighty remained silent, being not too sure of himself with his thoughts on the situation. Espio stared at him shortly before Mighty looked back at him. "You think she's lying?"

"I know she's lying. Mighty, the way she's acting, I know how it is."

"So what, you know what she's dealing with? If you do, please, do tell."

"I'm not saying that, but I can say that I've probably been where she's been."

"Yeah? And where exactly is that?" Espio stared for a minute before letting out a small sigh.

"Growing up with family troubles, school troubles, bad influences, it all comes back, Mighty. Maybe it's not the case with her but I'd give it a good chance that that's what it is."

"How exactly do you know all of this? You a psychologist now too?"

"No, some of us just didn't have great lives growing up." He started to walk off towards the direction Maria had gone, but stopped and turned his head halfway around to see Mighty out of the corner of his eye. "Think about that for once and see what you come up with." He then turned around and disappeared.

Mighty stood, somewhat shocked by what Espio had said, then muttered to himself, "damn." He turned around and leaned against the tree the same way Maria had when he came out. That's when Charmy decided to fly out and attempt to grasp the situation.

"Hey, where'd she go?"

"I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

Charmy paused for a moment, not really understanding why Mighty had said that.

"Well, I was just--" he stopped feeling a little underestimated and hovered quietly until Mighty spoke.

"She went off for some solitude. Not everyone likes company all the time you know."

"Why didn't you follow her?"

"Why would I have?"

Charmy smiled a little by his absent-minded answer.

"Well, 'cause you like her."

◊◊◊

Maria was, once again, dwelling on the water's edge. She seemed so troubled, so scared, but neither her eyes nor expressions showed it. Only her actions, her voice, only they revealed her deep fear of something. Nowhere had she signaled to anyone what that something was yet, but Espio intended to find out.

He walked up slowly. She was sitting on the edge of a large rock that jutted out over the water. It was high and from the beach easy to go onto. She was sitting there as if she were completely dazed. Off in her own little world, and maybe she was. As he approached, she spoke as if she had eyes in the back of her head and had seen him come.

"You come here to pry at me too?"

Espio was caught by surprise, as he had been silent. Maybe she had keen senses because she was part feline, but he couldn't be sure of how she knew.

"Depends," he paused and sat down beside her, she looked at him sitting down quickly, then back out over the water. "Do I have to?"

She did not reply, just kept on staring. Espio looked at her waiting for her to look back, but she never did. Her focus was elsewhere. She was fingering a necklace that was hanging around her neck. A small steel diamond set on a silver chain. Espio had never seen anything like it before, but she seemed to be very attached to it. He became curious.

"What's that?"

"What does it look like?" Maria still remained gazing at the water-covered horizon.

There was silence yet again. Espio was definitely over having things hidden from him, especially when the answers were right there in front of him. He was tired of it.

"So, Maria," he paused and looked at her. "Show me something." Her gaze was suddenly directed at Espio and their eyes met in an intense moment. She was surprised by his comment, but had an urge to tell him everything. Her past, her problems, her plans, she wanted to let him know all about it. She kept her composure while she looked away and replied.

"Show you what?"

"Show me what you can really do with your powers. Throwing water can't be the only thing you've learned how to do."

She sat there, waiting for something so it seemed, but was quiet. She was debating on whether or not to do what she felt was right, or do what she knew she didn't want to...walk away.

She held out her hand, palm up, and the water from about four feet beneath her maneuvered its way up to her hand. The gem in her forehead, once again, began to glow bright white in the darkness. Espio watched closely as she twiddled her fingers and moved her hand. Every time she made a movement the water took a different form. She made live sculptures of fire burning, a tree blowing in the wind, Espio himself, and then some others that Espio did not recognized. She stopped after creating one of a young man, an echidna Espio saw, and she stared contently at it. She made one more, of a little girl this time: small, innocent, and normal looking. He finally gathered up the voice to speak.

"So, who were they?"

She froze at his question and closed up her palm letting the water drop and fall through her fingers back to the source. Espio just waited for an answer.

"Friends," she paused and let her hand drop into her lap as the gem died yet again. "Family." She refused to look at Espio. She started to finger the necklace again.

He sat for a moment thinking of what to say before deciding to ask about the unique piece of jewelry.

"Where did you get that?"

She was hesitant to answer. "My father," she paused and looked at Espio, "Before he died."

"I'm sorry." He paused, not feeling completely comfortable with the situation. "Were you close?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Espio looked at her, confused by what she'd said. She looked at him and saw the misunderstanding in his eyes, only after did she continue. "I never really saw him. The only time I remember even talking to him was when he gave me this." She paused and held the necklace out in front of her face and seemed to study it. "'Never take this off Maria, ya hear? When you wear this you hold all that is in your hands.' When I asked why, all he told me was 'All in time.' To this day I don't know why." She looked at Espio who listened very closely to what she had to say. Maria was starting to see him better than before. Maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all.

"Do you know why he gave it to you?" He looked over at her while she replied.

"No, and I don't know why he gave it to me instead of my..." she caught herself in her words, knowing that she would have trouble with talking about this. "Mother." She dropped her head a little and stared at the necklace pendant again.

"Does she know?"

"I'll never be sure. She's gone too." Espio sat a little shocked. He had no idea that she had gone through that. She seemed to handle it so well. At least he thought so before her voice started to waver a bit. "I only knew them for the first eight years of my life. They passed soon after my sister was born."

"What happened?" Espio did feel that the question was somewhat untouchable, but nonetheless, he tried.

"I don't know." She said it forcefully, as though it wasn't that big of a deal. She sounded like she was forcing it, and that's what gave it away to Espio that she was lying. He didn't want to ask again, although he was curious, he didn't want to cause her anymore pain. She looked at Espio and asked her own question. "So what about you? Any family?"

He looked at her and shrugged slightly, "Yeah but, my father walked out on me and my mother when I was only five. When she remarried after I'd turned eight, I ran away from home. Haven't seen any of them since. I honestly think the last words I said to either of them was that I never wanted to see them again, and I guess it just worked out for me." He looked down thinking about all the times he'd thought about it. She continued to look at him.

"Is there anything you regret?" He looked up surprised by Maria's sudden interest and understanding.

"There are plenty of things I regret. Never telling my dad that I wish he'd stay, never telling them I loved them as much as I did. I regret never letting my mother be happy with a husband and son again." He paused and looked down with a chuckle, "I regret never taking my mother's advice and asking Donna Maple to go on a date."

She gave a little smile at his comment and he looked up at her. "What about you? Anything you would go back and fix if you could?"

Her smile soon turned into a sad frown and she looked away. Espio debated whether or not he should take back his question, but just as he was about to say something, she cut him off with a reply.

"Life doesn't come with a receipt."

"No, it doesn't." Espio listened as she continued.

"You can't just take it back and ask for a new one. You're trapped in what you get." She paused and looked out over the water again. "Are there things I regret? Yeah, of course there is. I would erase my whole life and start over, if I could. But no matter how much I think about it, how much I pray and hope and wish and dream, I'll never have what I once lost. There's just too much missing." She paused again and grabbed the necklace in her palm and held it out in front of her. "I regret what I did to my sister, my friends," she felt a tear form in the corner of her eye and she wiped it away. "I regret never finding what I set out to and never finishing what I started." She looked down again and wrapped the necklace in a fist, like she was trying to force anger inside to stay there. "Regrets? Sure as hell seem like nightmares, but yeah. I regret almost every minute of my life. But what I regret the most, is realizing that every minute of my life, I've wasted the time I had to do something with my family and my friends. Instead, I'm sitting here trying to find out why I did what I did, and what I should do now. That's what I regret."

Espio thought quietly for a moment before truly realizing what she was talking about.

"You left them, didn't you?" She looked over to him with a sad, sad look.

"Yeah, I did. I left my sister, my best friends, the ones I loved. I left and I can't figure out if it was the right thing to do or not." She looked back at the medallion and started think on her own, but still listened to Espio.

"So what brought you here? Why'd you come to Mobius?"

"Trying to carry out on a mission."

Espio was now confused. She didn't seem like the type to stick with a plan of any sort.

"What kind of mission would that be?"

She hesitated then dropped her necklace again and looked at him.

"Why? Why do you guys care so much?" She was waiting for an answer when suddenly her vision blurred and turned to pitch black. Then, images started to run in front of her eyes again. This time though, it seemed so different. She'd never remembered it, but it seemed so real, so familiar.

_Amethyst was kneeling at her window and her head was bowed. It was a clear, starry night and it was calm and quiet. She was talking to herself near silently._

_"Dear Lord, it's me again. I wanted to ask you for something. I know you can make miracles happen, but I don't wanna miracle, just a favor. Maria needs an angel now. Do you think you could send a guardian angel? Please, keep her safe...for me." There was a short silence and she looked up at the stars glistening in the dark sky. "Amen."_

_She stood after a short moment and went to her bed. She stopped and kneeled down, looking under her bed. Soon after, she pulled out a small journal and wrote in it under a small light. She sat on her bed and let her pen and mind work as one on the paper. Suddenly, her head shot up and stared daggers straight ahead, almost at nothing. But Maria felt like she was staring straight into the scene, the girl sitting there._

Finally, Maria snapped back to real life and looked at Espio, stared at him for what seemed like the longest time. He just kept looking back. Once he made the slightest move, she blinked a few times and turned her head away quickly.

"I came here looking for answers. I need to find out what really happened to my parents, and my best friend. I need to learn what this pendant is for and figure out what my father's words meant. That's why I'm here. It's as simple as that."

"Doesn't seem so simple, does it?"

"Not when I hear it said." She let the corner of her mouth curl up in the slightest.

"What kind of answers exactly, what happened?"

She turned towards him and stared. "Even if I did want to tell you," she stood up and turned to walk away as he stood ready to follow. "A burden is always something to be avoided, and trust me," she began to walk off. "It's a burden." Espio followed quickly and walked next to her, wherever she was headed.

"You know, keeping things locked up inside can cause trouble."

"How do you figure?" She looked at him then her eyes widened. "Move!" she pushed him out of the way of a large built fox.

Espio refocused and looked at Maria who was distracting three larger men. It was only after he had grasped the situation he stood up trying to figure out what was happening. He stared in complete confusion until it was too late. Suddenly, Espio was grabbed, from behind by another large man. He had had no idea that anyone was back there behind him. When he looked back at Maria, she was on the ground gasping for breath. One of the large men must've knocked the wind out of her and forced her down. While she was struggling, the two men closest to her walked up behind her and grabbed her arms, holding them firmly behind her back. Espio was forced over closer to her, but not too close. It was as though they didn't want him to be able to reach her, at all. Then, a smaller man, not by much, walked up from behind the unoccupied man and stared at Maria who was still kneeling on the ground. He walked up right in front of her and started to talk to her. She didn't look up, just stared at the ground in front of her.

"Still conning people into fighting your fights, huh? What are you givin' this time?"

"Maria, Maria, Maria." He starting to shake his had back and forth before he continued. "Haven't you ever heard the saying," he paused and bent down to her level. He held his hand out and held her chin up, forcing her to look him straight in the eyes. "Curiosity's what killed the cat."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six 

"Tie 'em up and let's get going."

"Kane, don't do this. Let him go." Maria was suddenly punched in the stomach, which caused her to bend over coughing.

"Maria!" The worst thing Espio had ever felt, the worst pain, was standing there, knowing that Maria was being hurt and there was nothing he could do to help her. That was the worst thing he'd ever felt in his life. The men were tying Espio and Maria's hands behind their backs as their boss had ordered. He was not about to deal with rebellious prisoners.

"Now, Maria. Don't think he'd enjoy it? I know your sister would greatly appreciate the company." With those words Maria was suddenly stronger than ever in her speaking. She stood straight up and leaned as far in towards Kane as she could, but he did not move a muscle.

"What the hell have you done with her you god damned bastard? I swear, if you've harmed a single hair on her head, I'll--" she was cut off by him raising his voice.

"Maria, I really don't believe you're in the position to be giving threats. Do you?" She just sneered at him and dropped her head again. "Let's go." He turned and walked off.

Maria and Espio were then pulled behind with the ropes still attached to their hands. There was no escaping from the present predicament. Espio watched, as Maria seemed to mumble to herself like she was insane. He would hear certain words or unfinished sentences that stood out. Things about her sister, names mentioned that he had not recognized, things about time, space, water, and life. They all seemed random and jumbled together. Espio needed to have her there, with him. He had to know what she knew, be aware of what she was aware of. He needed information.

"Maria," he paused and looked around, lowering his voice but moving a little closer to her, he spoke again, "Maria. Maria, talk to me."

"Espio, I am so, so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. This is all my fault."

Then they reached a large steel door. Kane was up front and unlocked it. He pushed the ton heavy door open and they were forced into a very dimly lit corridor. After about 20 yards, the long corridor opened up to a large, cold room. Metal machines and steel walls surrounded them in every direction. Maria got the chills and she started to shiver. They suddenly heard Kane's voice come from in front.

"Cozy, isn't it?" He spun around holding his hands up then looked at Maria who had stopped, still staring at her feet, shivering. He walked up to her and Espio watched worriedly as he seemed to just invade her. "Oh come now Maria. You always loved working with metal. As I recall, you carry a gun with you, still don't you?" He suddenly shot down, pulled up the leg of Maria's pants to her knee, and dug in her boot. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a black handgun. He took the clip and unloaded it, only followed with him throwing the device backwards letting one of his minions catch it.

"Kane," she looked up at him with those piercing eyes. "You're still the same pathetic jack ass you were back then. You haven't changed, at all."

"I haven't, have I?" He let out a startling fit of evil laughter. He then waved his hand and ordered to his men as he walked off. "Chain 'em up and leave 'em be. We've got bigger things to do before I deal with her." The large guards once again pushed Maria and Espio off in one direction as Kane exited to some other unknown area of the facility.

Once they had reached the dark room, they were untied...but no later locked in metal cuffs, which hung from the wall. Maria was too short to reach the floor. Therefore, the pain in her arms was almost unbearable. She groaned in immense, torturous agony.

Espio felt terrible. Maria actually reminded him a lot of himself: stubborn, impulsive, always taking fault. He had to do something to comfort her.

"Maria, you okay?"

"Depends on how you define okay. If having every bone, muscle, and tendon stretched to snapping limits is okay, then yeah. I'm just peachy." She let out another agonizing moan.

"Well, just think," he paused and she looked at him confused, "It's one way to get taller."

"So what now you're calling me short?"

"I'm sorry. I meant no offense, just trying to avoid the wrong conversation."

"Yeah, not exactly right conversation either."

"Does it hurt?"

"No." She looked down and winced as all her weight shifted to her feet. Now, she was dangling from the cuffs like dead weight. He could tell she was lying. The untruthful statement just lingered in the air above them for the longest time.

"You're really not like other girls."

"Now where did you get an absurd idea like that?" She spoke with immense sarcasm. He could only continue conversation. If time was now limited for her, and him, he wanted to know who she really was. What she had to say. He would listen.

"You know most girls, have problems with their hair, and matching clothes, and getting boyfriends. You, you're something completely different. Why?"

"Not everything has a reason. Not everything carries a purpose. I just never had, a normal girly, 'let's go shopping and find some guys' life. It's just never been me."

"But why not. I mean, something must have led you into the person you are."

She sighed and struggled to regain the feeling in her arms, being unsuccessful. "It's how I was raised alright? After my parents died, I had nowhere to go. No choices to be decided. I grew up with..." she paused and debated whether or not to say anything about her past. She had never talked to anyone, except him…only...him. "Eli. I grew up with him. He raised me, trained me, and taught me everything I know. And then some."

"So why did you leave?"

She turned away as far as she could without putting too much strain on her body. She was going numb from hanging there so long. Her eyes were falling half lidded with a sensation of blood rush.

"Maria?"

"Because I'm a stubborn dumb ass, that's why. And because of it, I got them killed." Her eyes started filling with tears. "It was a mistake. It was all my fault, my big mess-up. Okay? You happy now?"

"Maria, I didn't mean t—"

"No you didn't mean to. That's exactly why I'd rather not talk about it since you know." She sighed and looked away. "Besides, all that is going to change."

"How, why…what are you planning on doing?"

"I'm gonna make things right. I'm gonna make the hell that I caused to change. I'm taking the responsibility for my fault."

"Maria, this is not your fault, but you need to tell me what's going on. I need to know what you know."

Maria sighed and looked forward. Then she looked at Espio, who stared back concerned before she looked back down at her feet. She began very quietly.

"His name is Kane Emit. There is a legend within our culture that talks of two children born. Born of time and life. In our culture water is the sign of life, and there is only one source from which it is proven...the Eibik Spring. In the legend, on the night of the 4th new moon of the year, every 4 hundred years, on the white shore of the spring, they come together...as one. When the legend is fulfilled, it talks of the Lebnzeit Eibik Medallion. Possession of it lone is useless, but, with the life sources of both time and life, the power is immeasurable. It is literally playing God." She paused and took in a heavy, wavered breath. "16 years ago, tonight at midnight, the legend began."

Espio took it all in, rather, he tried. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. It sounded like complete nonsense. She began knowing that if she did not explain everything, he would just ask away and waste the little time they had.

"When the forces of time and life are combined while wearing the medallion, the individual is able to control all time, space...life itself. There is no stopping it without the destruction of the person's soul. In other words," she paused and he finished her thought.

"They perish. But that's all just a legend right? It's not proven, never been acted on."

Maria was quiet for a minute and Espio caught the hint. She continued without a word from Espio. "Espio, I am the life force. He is time. My powers Espio, it's my control over water. All he needs is the medallion and all he needs to find it...is me."

Espio was speechless. If the legend were true, if he really was finding himself in this situation, what was she saying, that there was no stopping it? That couldn't be...could it?

"So you came looking for it? In search of the truth about it?"

"Yes, I came looking for it...but," she paused and looked at him. Those bright yellow eyes were piercing. She could do nothing but tell him everything. "I did not tell you earlier, everything I should've. I'm not looking for answers. I've been looking for way out, a way back, a way to life. When I discovered the legend I had no choice but to go after it. I have to bring back what I lost, even if that means losing myself. I look for a way to fix what I did."

"Maria, I don't get what you're saying. What do you have to fix?"

"He killed my parents, Espio. He killed my best friend. And now he's got my sister, the only family I have left, right where he needs her to get rid of her as well. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Maria, you can not plan on bringing back those people. You can't use that power to tamper in the time stream, in life's plan. Why do you have to fix it? It doesn't make any sense."

"He killed everything I'd ever known Espio. The only reason they are gone is because of me. When there's opportunity, people take it. It's the defect of being mortal. With life comes death. With happiness comes sorrow. With eternity...comes an end. People believe that to be the one and only truth, but Espio, with power such as that, why has no one come to the idea of a cure. Real immortality. It's all anyone wants right?"

"Maria, you can't just--."

"You told me before that no one deserves pain, sorrow, death. I said you were wrong, I said you wouldn't understand, and I don't expect you to...but it doesn't matter, because he does...he deserves every second of torture he gets." Tears started to swell in her eyes and she did not attempt to force them back. They trickled down her cheeks one at a time.

"Maria, listen to me. There are people out there that have the same idea as you. Immortality is not something to fool with. People live as long as they do for a reason. You can't interfere with time itself. That power could destroy you."

"Espio, mortality is the one and only cause of real pain when you come down to it. You're saying no one deserves it? It's just a load of bullshit. But what would you know about that, right? You've never lost anyone."

"Maria, that is not true and if you took one second to be logical about this maybe we could figure this out."

"No, I am being perfectly logical. You've never felt the pain of letting someone down. Knowing someone so close to you was torn away. Someone that was so close that every waking minute of your life you hear that person's voice in your head. Laying out every single mistake, problem that happened...that you made. You don't know what it's like." She looked away and Espio just stared. "You have no idea what it's like." He didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything to say. He had lost all train of thought from then on out. He had to figure this out.

◊◊◊

The time passed slowly and silently. After a while, it seemed to Espio that Maria had lost consciousness. She wasn't speaking, her eyes were not open, and she wasn't moving. He worried. He tried speaking to her, but all he got was a small moan every so often. He was curious about the fact that maybe the blood was being forced to her lower body and her brain was unable to keep hold temporarily. Somewhat the same effects of a sleeper hold.

Espio alerted himself when he heard faint footsteps from outside the door then a key in the lock on the large metal door. He went into his cloaking mechanism and from there out just had to wait.

The guard walked in slowly and then shut the door behind him. When he turned around to face the opposing wall, all he saw was a small girl hanging on the wall and an empty pair of cuffs.

"What the hell? Where'd he go?" He looked around in a scramble then walked up to the cuffs and stared at them. Suddenly, he bent downward at his stomach and looked at the floor gasping for air. He was attempting to cuss at the unknown force but couldn't because of his lack of air.

Espio's still invisible tail found the key on the large guard's person and brought it up to his wrists unlocking and freeing himself. When he gained his footing on the ground, he went behind the guard. Taking a stiff arm to the crevasse on the very back of the guard's neck, Espio cracked the guard's spinal cord and the man was flat on the floor.

"Well, now that that's taken care of." He smirked a bit. "Way too easy." He hurried over to Maria's limp body and stretched up slightly the unlock the cuffs that were holding her to the wall like a dead body. She was so exhausted that she just fell and Espio caught her in his arms. He held her up slightly but laid her straight enough so the blood could start to circulate regularly again. While he was waiting for her to come to, he noticed that her breathing was short and shallow. Also, the gem in her forehead was acting strangely. Cycling through every color in and between the rainbow.

After a few quick minutes her eyes finally became slits of slight consciousness. Espio was relieved. Maria opened her eyes to see Espio's large golden irises.

"Wh-what happened?"

"Welcome back."

"What the hell happened?" She rubbed her forehead and winced. "Geez my head. Where are we?"

"You fell unconscious for a while. Thought I'd let you go and wake you up." She sat straighter up and studied the room. She took in the situation. She saw that the guard was lying on the cement ground, not breathing. She noticed the holding cell and then the memories suddenly rushed back to her.

"Oh no. Shit we gotta get out of here."

"Well, no kidding?" Espio stood and held out a hand to her helping her up.

Maria automatically made her way to the open steel cell door with Espio right directly behind her. As Espio was readying to turn right towards the exit, Maria turned immediately left. When Espio noticed he turned around and yelled after her.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not leaving without Amethyst!" With that she was gone around another corner. Espio was unsure of if he should leave and wait outside or wait there for her. He decided in a quick instant that he would stand right there until she returned. He waited somewhat nervously looking around him cautiously as to make sure of his own safety for the time being.

◊◊◊

Maria reached a large room, like a cave or something that had just been coated in metal and machines. She saw a small cage and inside, to her horror, was her young sister. She looked cold and hungry and just miserable.

"Oh no." She whispered to herself and then scanned the area around her to make sure none of the enemy force was near. She crept silently over to the small barred box where her sister, unbelievingly slept. She figured that Amethyst was so exhausted and weak that sleeping was the only thing she had any energy to do. She took the key that she had retrieved from Espio and slid it into the lock. Luckily, it unlatched and she opened the barred doorway. Reaching in, she gently picked her young sibling from the frozen cold steel bottom and cradled Amy in her arms.

"M-Mar-ria?" Her eyes barely opened and Maria just quietly 'sushed' her and told her not to worry.

"Don't worry. Just, hold on." She silently and hurriedly walked back towards where she knew the exit was.

There was a knock at the door and Vector heard the slight noise through the booming of his headphones. He stood, moved the headphones to his neck, and walked over to the door. Upon opening it, he was greeted by none other than Knuckles.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Hey, Vec." He walked in and shut the door behind him. "Hey, you know anything about a shuttle crash recently?"

"Oh yeah. The other day." Vector turned and walked back over to the couch where he was previously sitting before being disturbed by Knuckles' company.

"You know anything else about it? Who it was or from where?" He made his way to a seat kitty-corner from Vector on another couch.

"Yeah, some chick from Cyrzadii. That's what she said anyway."

"So wait, you met her?"

"Yeah. Espio and Mighty decided to go check out the crash site and came across her. So much for being so hurt. Geez. Up this morning with no problem man. I swear Espio's got some nerve. I oughta –" He couldn't say anymore before Knuckles cut him off.

"Cyrzadii huh? That's all the way in the Helix Sector of the galaxy."

"Yeah I found it whack too. Who knows though? I'll tell ya man, she was one weird chick. I mean real strange."

"How so?"

"Just, there was something about her. She was way different from people 'round here. Oh and did I mention that she has some gem in her forehead that helps her control water? That's the weirdest part."

"Control water? Are you serious?" His eyes widened slightly. Sure, he knew that everyone around there had powers, but nothing that evolved. Sonic's speed, his ability to fly, nothing as extensive as hydro control. He found it odd.

"Yeah no joke. Friggin' weirdest thing I've ever seen too man."

"Where is she now?"

"Not too sure. Went off somewhere. Espio followed I'm assumin'"

Just then, Mighty came through the door with Charmy right above him nagging at him for something.

"Just admit it. You know it's true. Come on. It's not hat big of a—Knuckles!" Mighty shot his gaze up and walked over to the echidna.

"Hey man. 'Sbeen awhile. Where ya been?" Mighty walked over and gave him a fist pound and some strange personalized handshake as he plopped down beside him.

"Around. Guardian duties and all ya know. Same ol' same. What about you? Vec here tells me ya turned into a boarding house."

"Vector just doesn't like the chick. That's why he's so ticked."

"Mighty does." Charmy smiled and Mighty rolled his eyes.

"She's annoying and for heaven's sake she's a feline."

"So what now you hate cats?"

"Not important. Where's Espio?" Knuckles interjected the conversation that he knew would've soon turned into a full on argument.

"He followed Maria I'm assuming."

"Which Mighty didn't." Charmy once again got in a short word causing

"Maria? The girl right?"

"Yeah."

"She's really pretty and nice." Charmy was such a child. Knuckles let a smirk creep across his face at the young boy's comment.

Mighty sat in thought for a moment. Shouldn't they have been back by now? Espio wouldn't just let her leave and he'd more than likely force her to come back. He shot up off the couch and walked to the kitchen and stared out at the water through the window above the sink.

Knuckles exchanged glances with Vector who just shrugged it off and Charmy who hovered in the air just as confused as Knuckles himself if not more so. He shot up from the couch and walked after him. Vector returned his blaring earphones to his ears and Charmy floated downward to sit on the chair across from Vector's still form.

"Hey Mighty. What's the problem?" Knuckles walked up next to him and leaned back against the countertop.

"Knuckles," he paused and looked at him. "They should've been back by now."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven 

He had slight worry in his eyes and Knuckles could tell. They were only best friends.

"You think something's wrong?"

"Can't be too sure. But I think there's something going on that we don't know about."

"You have any idea where they are?"

"Only place they'd be would be the waterfront."

"Hydro powers. Of course."

"But they aren't."

"What?"

"Charmy flew down there while we were outside and said that he couldn't see them anywhere. That's when we came back, hoping they were back here already."

"Turns out they aren't."

"That's what bothers me. Espio's not one to run off with a stranger like that. He's smarter than that."

"Yes but also if something happened, you know how he'd react. He's just as impulsive as you sometimes. But he knows how to handle himself." He set a hand on Mighty's shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much man. They'll be fine."

"Can't help it."

"You act like you're missing someone important." Knuckles went back to lean against the counter and stared at him. His eyes were half lidded in something that he couldn't quite place. "Somethin' you're tryin' to hide Mighty?"

"If I were, it wouldn't be worth saying."

"Yes, but you'd keep it hidden until something drastic happened."

"So, I guess you'll just have to wait until that drastic moment. Huh?"

Knuckles smirked a bit and shrugged pushing himself up from the counter. "Guess so." He walked back into the living room.

"Hey Vector. Anything else you know ab—" he cute himself short when he saw a small figure at the doorway. A little girl, seeming not much older than Charmy himself, standing at the door crying.

"Please. Please help my sister."

"Mighty!" Knuckles cried back to the kitchen as Mighty walked quickly through the doorway.

"What?" He stopped wide-eyed. "Oh no." He walked closer and they all listened to the young girl's short and worried story.

"Please. My sister is trapped and she can't get away. She told me to come here. Please help. She needs you."

Knuckles looked out of the corner of his eyes to see Mighty's worry. He knew it was there.

"Mighty?" He broke his stare and looked to Knuckles and his stern gaze.

"Was there anyone with him?" Knuckles looked down to the small girl and her pleading eyes.

"Yes. A chameleon. He was with my sister. He tried to help, but couldn't get out. He stayed with Maria."

That was all Mighty needed to hear before walking up to the girl and bending down to be at eye level with her.

"Can you show us where your sister is?"

She nodded her head and he stood up and looked back to Knuckles.

"Let's go."

"Alright." Knuckles went up to the girl and in one swift motion, picked her up and propped her on his shoulders.

◊◊◊

"Shit!" Maria pulled at the chains but they wouldn't budge.

"Don't waste all your energy." Espio spoke not even looking at her.

"How can you just sit there and do nothing?" She looked at him in somewhat disgust.

"It's not worth it. If you waste all your effort just trying to get them off, then it would just be use for nothing. There's no way you can break these. They are solid steel. Besides, if by some chance we get the opportunity, you have to have the energy to fight back."

"You know, I'm sorry to say that I actually thought you reminded me of Eli." She paused and looked away. "I thought wrong. Eli was determined, forceful, focused, strong, intelligent. Something you're far from."

"Somehow I feel that you don't mean that."

"I don't beat around the bush Espio. Trust me, when I say something, I mean it."

"Well. Almost time. Aren't you excited Maria?" Maria looked up to the owner of the voice. Of course it was Kane. Who else was she expecting?

"You think you've won? News flash buddy boy, you still have to find the medallion. Good luck with that." She sneered and turned away.

"Oh but Maria. Are you that blind and stupid?" He bent down and fiddled with her necklace. "It's been right under your nose the entire time." He yanked at the necklace and she cringed as it pulled into the back of her neck.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your father never told you. He thought he was protecting you. Last words to me were "stay away from my daughter." Man, he must've thought I was an imbecile." He bounced the necklace up in down in his palm before turning around. "Must've been mistaken." He walked over to a large device and set the necklace pendent on top of it. "Oh and don't even bother trying to get out of those chains. Experimental metal. Stronger than diamonds. Only person able to break those is Neamiah, but oh, he's dead now too isn't he? Too bad. Was lookin' forward to another attempt at a rescue mission."

"Well Kane," a voice sounded and Maria's eyes instantly shut to the owner and filled with tears. "You got your wish."

Espio looked up and saw an echidna, cadet blue in color. He looked maybe a couple years his superior and was well shaped. He had a large scar that ran across his right eye, as if he were scratched.

"Who is this guy?" Espio thought as the mysterious echidna took at Kane with fists balled. Of course, a couple of Kane's bodyguards interfered and the echidna worked at taking them out.

Espio looked to Maria's tear filled eyes. She was trying to force them back and just as she was turning to face him, she looked up and her eyes immediately went as wide as physically possible.

"Mighty?"

"What?" Espio turned around and saw his armadillo friend standing about ten feet away hiding behind one of the metal machines. Mighty held a finger up to his mouth signaling for them to stay quiet.

Maria's gaze immediately fell back upon the new echidna's presence. Kane was creeping away and before Maria could yell anything, the echidna yelled out himself.

"Neamiah! The pendent!"

Maria's eyes only widened more than what they were before. Espio was still busy looking at Mighty who just then decided to creep over to where they were chained.

"Are you okay?" He spoke mainly to Maria.

"We're fine." Espio cut in, obviously signifying that he was in somewhat of a hurry to get up and out of there. Mighty turned Espio some ready to break the chains. That's when Maria grabbed hold of what was happening and looked to Mighty.

"You can't break them. They are too strong."

"Then what do we do."

"You stand back, and let me handle it." Yet another strange voice sounded above them and Maria looked up. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She was in utter astonishment.

The stranger bent down and grabbed onto the heavy chain links in his fist. Espio could feel the strong surge of energy he sent through the metal and following, they shattered into thousands of pieces. It seemed as if they were made of glass.

Maria shot up into the arms of the stranger and they shared a strong embrace.

He let out a short chuckle before setting her back onto her feet.

"Glad to see you too but now's not the time."

"I thought you were dead. I saw you fall. What, where…" she took a minute of thought before she realized that he was smiling down at her triumphantly. "You mean…?" She stared up at him until he moved out of the way to reveal yet another person. This though, was a girl, about Maria's age. Also a feline. She was at one of the larger machines vigorously pushing buttons. "This can't be happening. I saw, you fall. You fell. You both went over that edge and you never came back up."

"We fell into a canyon Mia. A canyon composed solely of rock." He smiled.

"But why didn't you come back? You were gone for days."

"We ran into problems on our way out. But that's not important because we're fine. Everything's fine."

"No it's not. Kane is getting away with the medallion and he knows where I am and there's no st—" she was stopped by a finger to her rambling mouth.

"He hasn't won yet." The stranger pulled something on a chain out of his jean pocket and then opened his fits in front of her face to reveal the pendent that was rightfully hers.

"But, how?"

"I believe this is yours." He put it around her neck for her and then she looked over to Espio and Mighty.

"How'd you get here? How'd you find us?"

Mighty smiled a bit before turning around and whistling.

"We had some help." From behind a far corner, Knuckles and Vector appeared with Amy and Charmy right nearby.

"Amy!"

"Mia!" The small girl ran up to her elder sister and gave her a hug.

"You brought her back here?"

"We had to know where you were, and technically she brought herself." Maria let her younger sister down and looked back to where Kane should've been. "It doesn't matter right now. Just watch after her." She looked to Neamiah.

"I got somethin' else for ya." He pulled out her gun and tossed it over to her.

"Neamiah, you're truly my savior." She nodded her head to her other friends. "Let's go. We gotta get Kane before he gets away again."

Mighty looked up to Charmy.

"Look after Amy. Take her outside and wait. Don't let her out of your sight." Charmy did a salute to Mighty before hovering downward and grabbing onto Amy's arm pulling her back into the hallway and towards the exit of the building.

Mighty looked back to Maria and nodded his head. They all went out into the larger area ready to fight.

Espio got caught up with a guard and inflicted never-ending torture by amusing himself. He kept on disappearing and reappearing just to make the guard even angrier than what he was.

Mighty and Knuckles went at it with three other guards on the opposite side of the 'cave'. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. They acted like a tag team. It was interesting.

Vector was over at the controls with Natashia, at what could be assumed as helping her trying to crack down on the codes she was working at.

Maria instinctively went after Kane with Neamiah following close behind.

"Why bother Maria? If he's gone he's gone."

"I'm not letting him get away from me. Not this time." She turned a corner and in a sudden swoop, she was taken around the neck with a blade held to her throat. She had dropped her gun and Neamiah had backed away, pointing his beam saber towards, who else? Kane.

"Let her go Kane."

"No. There's no way I'm letting this wench get away with the medallion. I'm going to get that power if it's the last thing I do."

"I'll make sure it's the last thing you do you jackass." As Maria continued to struggle, she was being pulled backwards with Kane as he made his way to a large circular panel. Under the panel was a large pool of water. The circular platform was carved out like the looks of a clock, and that was when Neamiah started to know what he was planning. After seeing the pattern, he knew what was wrong with this. "Maria!" He called out but Kane was nearly choking her in his grasp. The sharpened blade was still being held to her throat. "Eli!" Neamiah cried back into the machine-surrounded room just hoping that he would hear.

"You see Maria? This is the best way. This way, you can join your parents. And don't worry, I'll be sure with the newly acquired power, that I send all your buddies with you. Your friends, your best friend, your sister. They'll all join you soon."

Maria continued to struggle, but the knife being held to her throat was really restricting her movements.

"You'll never get anywhere near the power you speak of." She rasped out of her mouth.

"Is that so? Well, I'll show you. You'll see. You'll all see. There's no chance I'm gonna let you get in my way." He finally backed all the way onto the platform.

Just then Eli came up next to Neamiah and took a step forward aiming his gun. Neamiah went in front of him and forced his arm down.

"What the hell?"

"Don't you might hit Maria."

"I ain't gonna hit her!" He aimed again but Neamiah stopped him again as Mighty and Knuckles came up as well.

"Just don't damn it. Watch." They did and suddenly, the whole platform started spinning.

"Shit." He dropped his gun and looked to Neamiah with worry in his gaze.

"See Maria? They aren't gonna help you. You'll die right here in my arms, like it's always supposed to have been. It's the end."

"_And he'll be the one holding you with a blade to your throat laughing in the end," she ran through her head, just remember Eli's words. It hurt her more than anything to know that she could've stopped this, but didn't because she was too god damned stubborn to think any way other than her own._

"Not today. No way," she whispered as she elbowed Kane in the stomach as hard as she could and struggled as much as she could. She then grabbed at the knife realizing that he was not as focused on it and may have even forgotten he'd had it. She took it, and with both hands wrapped tightly around it, plunged it into Kane's chest.

The blood dripped from his chest onto the platform below, causing an odd reaction. Maria's head started to throb and she could do nothing but hold her hands to it trying to force the pain to leave.

Kane was dead, and she was wearing the medallion. That meant that, if she stayed in there, she'd die. She was worried for herself, but at the same time, she knew it was probably the best thing, for her and for everyone else.

Outside of the force field, the others had been preoccupied with fighting off more guards again.

Mighty pushed the guard away and looked up to Maria. Barely, but most definitely, he saw her eyes. Her large green eyes, staring down at him with confidence and fear all at the same time.

"Maria, no." All he thought were those words. He had no hiding it now. There was something about her that he just couldn't get over. He loved it. He loved her. He didn't doubt it anymore, and he wouldn't deny himself to it.

She seemed as if she was unable to move. It was like the mysterious glow coming from that platform had temporarily paralyzed her. She just stood there.

Mighty wasn't taking it well. He had to do something. He debated jumping in and grabbing her and pulling her out, but he didn't know exactly how dangerous that would be, for him and her. He didn't want to risk it, but he had to. There was no other option.

As he went to go towards the platform to help Maria, Espio grabbed his wrist.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I have to do something. Now let go." He pulled away with ease and went back on his course set for the strange object.

"Mighty!" He cried out, but was no later occupied fighting off another man. "God damn it." He mumbled under his breath and that was all there was to it.

Mighty hurried over to the machine and stared up into it. Maria was still not moving. He was thinking that maybe, if he just jumped straight through it grabbing her carefully, then he and she'd be safe. He could only hope.

He studied how far and how high he'd have to jump.

◊◊◊

Maria was staring at her father. He was standing right there. Just in reach of her touch, her embrace, her love. He was all that she could see, then her mother standing behind him. He was speaking to her, and she was listening. She tried to talk back, but nothing escaped her throat. Nothing would come out.

"Aquamaria. Maria. This is not right. You cannot do this. You may not be able to see your mother and I, but we are always there. We are always with you. We do not need you. They need you. Your friends and your sister, need you. You cannot leave them again. The pendent was not meant as a curse, it was meant as a hope. A form of faith. Do not let it sway you. Take care, my Maria. We will miss you. Until your time." He suddenly faded. His image, him and Maria's mother, their faces just vanished. It was like they were never even there. Maria's eyes welled with tears, but they didn't fall. It was like someone was there, catching them just as they seeped from the corner of her eyes. She tried so hard to hold her hand out to them, finally getting it at a 90 degree angle with her body. After doing so, she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the wind had been knocked out of her. She closed her eyes in sudden pain and when she opened her eyes, she was in, Mighty's arms.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up into him.

"M-Mighty?" Her eyes became wet again and she just clung to him. She embraced him just loving the fact that he was there. He was there holding her, protecting her.

Suddenly, the ground took an unexpected jerk beneath them and they suddenly saw large slates of rock fall from the ceiling and smash into the ground. Maria and Mighty heard Natashia yell something out. Only after a bit did they realize what exactly it was.

"This place is comin' down! We need to get outta here!"

"Mighty!" Knuckles came around the side of the huge machine and went up to Mighty and Maria. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, but I don't think she's quite able to move yet." He scooped her up into his arms and cradled her there close to his chest. "Let's go."

"Right."

They rushed towards where everyone else was hurrying towards the exit. They needed to get out and they needed to get out right away.

"Jesus Christ." Neamiah leaned over himself completely out of breath, holding his weight up on his knees.

"Holy shit." Natashia was also breathing deeply, trying to regain her physical rate.

"Damn. Everyone all right?" Eli looked up and around counting with his eyes and scanning everyone. Everyone was there. Everyone was safe. His eyes were drawn to the strange armadillo and Maria who were standing some 10 feet away, by themselves looking straight at each other.

"Thank you Mighty. Thank you for everything."

"It was all worth it."

"You saved me. Why?"

"That's what people do. They protect the people they l—" he cut himself short and a small smile could be seen on Maria's face. He looked down to her and smiled back. "Love."

She smiled bigger and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck pulling him downward into a passionate kiss.

Eli watched and smirked a bit realizing that she was finally happy. She maybe didn't have everything back that she'd ever wanted, but she was happy. He waited a few moments before walking over to them as they parted and looking down to Maria.

She smiled bigger and jumped into his arms, giving him a huge hug. She had missed him all those years. She held on like she never wanted to let go again.

"You know there's still someone here you haven't greeted." He smiled at her as he placed her gently back on the ground. "Someone I think deserves it."

Maria smiled a bit shyly and looked over to Natashia who was still trying to regain what little breath she had to yet.

Maria walked over to her and faced her. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like years. It was broken when Natashia finally broke the silence.

"Thought I'd never see you again. Like I lost the biggest piece of my heart when you left."

"Well, now you have that piece back." They smiled and gave each other a huge, long hug.

Best friends. Best friends that hadn't seen each other in years. One thinking the other was dead and the other thinking that one was gone forever. It was like the breaking of floodgates. It was that important to them.

Everything was finally as it was supposed to be. Maria finally let herself realize that. At that moment she was learning that life was the way it was for a distinct reason. Everything and everyone was how and where it and they should be. Nothing could make anything any better than it was. It was as good as it gets.


	8. Epilogue

EPILOGUE 

"Come on Maria. It's like you're not even trying."

"Sorry if it's been years since I've trained with you."

"Shouldn't change much."

Maria gave a sly smile as she looked up to Eli who was staring down at her. He had her pinned to the ground, palms in hand so she couldn't use her powers. It's how they'd always be at some point in their training those so many years before.

"Doesn't change the situation," she said as suddenly Eli's hands were pushed off of hers by a strong stream of water. He flew backwards from the force and stared wide-eyed. "But people change and you'd never even realize that."

"How, when did you learn to create it?"

"I didn't." She looked down to her hands. "Before Mighty pulled me out of that mechanism, I think I absorbed what little power I could. It gave me the ability I have now." She smiled down and went to give him a hand up. "Life just works weird like that ya know? If Mighty hadn't saved me at that exact moment, I could've died either way. One from the lack of physical stability, or two, from far too much energy and power."

"Mighty's a good guy Maria. You don't meet people like that everyday." He smiled and looked down at her.

She smiled and looked up.

"I met you didn't I?"

"Hey Eli! Come on!" They heard a voice yell and Maria's smile turned into a small frown.

"I can't believe you're leaving."

"You can't can ya?" He said it in the tone that said 'are you stupid? You did it the exact same way. At least I'm telling you about it.' They started to walk towards the front of the house from the backyard where they were training.

"Don't even Eli. I admit it. It was stupid. It was wrong. I'm an idiot. Does that make you feel better?"

"I was never lookin' for it Maria. I know you never meant the action."

"Yeah. But I still feel like an asshole."

"Tends to be that way I guess."

"So where are you goin'?"

"Back home. Neamiah and Natashia wanna get back, start a life of their own. I got work to do. Lindsey is still in the hospital but just coming out of her coma."

Maria's eyes widened. She had almost completely forgotten about Lindsey.

"Oh." She looked down and stared at her feet.

"It's alright. You know the first thing she asked when she woke up?" He looked down to her confused gaze and continued looking back up. "She asked where you were. She asked where her savior was."

They had reached the front yard and Maria just stopped at those words. Eli continued on to say his goodbyes to everyone before boarding the ship.

When Maria regained her thought, she walked up next to Mighty. He wrapped his arm around her and Eli came up in front of him and looked at him with a slight smile on his face.

"You watch her for me? Lord knows she deserves a life."

Maria smiled shyly then looked to Mighty who just looked up to Eli.

"Will do. I'll never let her outta my sight."

"Kinda hard to do that with such precious gems huh?" Eli smiled even more then bent down and gave Maria one last hug. "Stay outta trouble kid."

"I'm not a kid anymore Eli. You know that."

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't." He shrugged and turned towards the ship boarding ramp where Amy and Misty were standing playing with something. "We'll look after them. Amy said that she wanted you to be happy by yourself. Also said that I need the company more than you." He gave a slight chuckle and looked back to Maria. "I don't know where she would get such an absurd idea like that."

Maria smiled sheepishly then looked over to Amy one last time.

"I know you will Eli. You're the best thing that ever happened to those girls."

"Yeah. Well, I think family is better than an imitation."

"Hmm. It probably is."

Eli gave one last smirk then turned and walked to the ramp.

"Well guys. It's been fun but we gotta get headin' our way back. We got a long way to go."

They all said their own goodbyes and then, just like that, they were off.

Maria was frowning some as they took off. She just watched intently until the shuttle faded into the sky and disappeared completely.

"You gonna be all right?" Mighty looked to her and she just smiled.

"Yeah. I'm great. Everything's…gonna be great." With that, they turned and went into the house, where for the future as far as she knew, would be.


End file.
